Afghans Hide in Air India Toilets, Reach Britain

Reuters | 10/30/01

[Freedom of Speech Wins]

Tuesday October 30 12:11 AM ET

Afghans Hide in Air India Toilets, Reach Britain

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - At least two Afghans hid in toilets on an Air India plane and reached London without passports, valid tickets or visas and sought asylum, newspapers reported Tuesday.

The stowaways boarded an Air India flight from Bombay to London with a stopover in New Delhi Sunday. But instead of disembarking in the Indian capital, they stayed on the plane, the Hindustan Times said.

The paper quoted officials of the state-run airline as saying two Afghan nationals hid in the toilets and managed to reach London without being detected.

``The two men rushed to immigration at Heathrow and demanded political asylum. They were taken away for interrogation,'' Air India's commercial director V.K. Verma was quoted as saying.

The Economic Times, however, said there were four Afghans on the flight who made it to London without travel documents.

A spokesman for the airline declined to make any immediate comment on the newspaper reports.

The security breach coincided with the start of the government's Aviation Security Week designed to reinforce security measures at airports around the country.

India has been on heightened alert since the Sept. 11 air assaults on the United States. There have been two hijack scares in India since then.

[oc-flyfish]

Sometimes the jokes just write themselves....

[onyx]

Fly Air India.... it's obviously not secure, but it's free! For ticketed passengers, toilet privileges not included.

[Freedom of Speech Wins]

Lets hear one. Common, you can do it! :).

[Rubber Duckie]

This could've been prevented with a federal potty patrol to clean between flights.</sarcasm>

[Robear]

When ya' gotta go, ya' gotta go!

[celtic gal]

At least they were smart enough not to hide in the wheel wells.

[Diogenesis]

Air India Security Guarad Screening Passengers prior to Boarding

[Bonaparte]

LOLOL! Another failed levitation by Sri "Wrong-Way" Ramdhishedagain, the human jack hammer.

[struwwelpeter]

I imagine that the only thing worse than an Air India toilet is a Ukrainian one.

[fella]

So that's how Afgans fly their planes.

[csvset]

It could just as easily be Italian.

[Patria One]

I wonder how they did that.

[Orual]

I wonder how they did that.

So do I. It's 4,460 air miles from Bombay to London. Didn't anyone on that plane have to use the facilities?

[jjbrouwer]

I flew back from NYC on Air India earlier this month. If the curry I had was anything to go by I think there would be quite a high demand for their loos.

[Patria One]

LOL.. my thoughts exactly... Never mind the curry.

[Bahbah]

That proves that they do not clean their toilets.

[crazykatz]

They have turkist toilets like that ALL OVER FRANCE as well!!

[Lilly]

ROFL ROFL